Chapter 1 Midnight Hospital

"You have been selected by our Hospital 444, to enter into our doctor recruitment for this year's fourth quarter. Our hospital is dedicated to the treatment of all human curses caused by supernatural phenomena. The doctors recruited will become intern doctors at our hospital and may not refuse in any way."

When Dai Lin received this message, he had just woken up from a nightmare.

In the dream, he found himself lying on an operating table.

The shadowless lamp overhead shone down on him.

Then, a pitch-black figure appeared before him, picked up a scalpel, and extended it towards his eyes.

In the dream, he actually felt the scalpel cutting into his eyes!

After waking up, he constantly felt a faint pain in his eyes.

As a clinical surgeon, he had performed countless operations, but this was the first time he felt what it was like to lie on the operating table.

Then, as his phone lay on the bedside table, it received this message.

Without hesitation, he deleted the message.

Treating curses from supernatural phenomena? What is this, some trashy online game ad?

"However, that dream was a bit too realistic..."

At that moment, Dai Lin was lying in the doctor's rest room at the hospital, preparing himself for the high-stakes operation later that evening.

Now, the discomfort in his eyes was growing stronger. He wasn't an ophthalmologist, so it was hard for him to diagnose the symptoms at first.

"Hopefully, it won't affect the upcoming operation..."

...

Late at night.

Hospital No. 9 in W City.

Finally, the doors to the operating room were pushed open and the patient, still under anesthesia, was wheeled out.

Dai Lin emerged, weary and masked.

"Doctor, how did it go?" asked the family members who had been waiting outside the operating room.

"The operation went relatively smoothly, but the patient will need to stay in the hospital for observation," Dai Lin said, lips moving tiredly.

Before the surgery, he had visited the ophthalmology department to make sure everything was alright. Since no further discomfort had arisen, he decided to go ahead with the operation as planned. After all, among all the surgical specialists in the hospital, he was the only one brave enough to undertake it, even his mentor had hesitated.

"Doctor, thank you, thank you so much!" Hearing that the surgery went well, the previously tense relatives sagged in relief, clutching Dai Lin's hand tightly. They were aware that the surgery was highly complex and that the patient had a very high chance of dying on the operating table.

Dai Lin, though exhausted, felt a profound joy at having rescued a life from the grip of death as he saw the gratitude of the family.

The nurses exiting the operating room witnessed this scene and commented, "Dai is really something, pulling off such a difficult operation."

"Of course, he's the youngest associate chief physician in the history of our hospital!

"The tumor was in a very tricky spot, most surgeons wouldn't dare to operate for fear of complications. Doctor Dai is truly formidable; he got into medical school at sixteen, and just this year he was promoted to associate chief physician, incredibly talented for his age!"

"No doubt, when that earthquake hit, Doctor Dai was the first to volunteer for the rescue mission!"

"Doctor Dai is really impressive, performing such surgeries while still under thirty. I hear the hospital wants to groom him for greatness, sending him to international medical conferences to present papers..."

"Ah, but Doctor Dai's eyes seemed troubled today. I heard the ophthalmologist say he had a checkup in the afternoon to make sure everything was normal before he was reassured to proceed with the surgery."

"Probably just overworked and strained his eyes lately?"

The inpatient department.

Tonight was Dai Lin's night on duty.

Right now, he was looking at the computer screen, reviewing the various test reports of patients who had recently undergone surgery and were under observation in the hospital, assessing their postoperative treatment.

Not long after the operation ended, that strange sensation returned to his eyes.

This caused Dai Lin's eyes to feel increasingly uncomfortable, especially in the region of his pupils, where the stinging sensation was growing more and more intense.

He picked up the eyedrops beside him and applied a few more drops.

"Doctor Dai..." Doctor Zhao asked, "Are your eyes still uncomfortable? What did the ophthalmologist say?"

"I've already been to ophthalmology for an examination, including a slit lamp test and an ocular B-scan. My lenses and retina are normal. Doctor Lin said there appears to be nothing wrong and it might be fatigue from overuse of the eyes, and just told me to use eyedrops for a few days."

"You must be overworked these days. Why not take a leave after this operation?"

"Yeah, maybe I have been a bit run-down lately, but it's nothing serious. Several patients' postoperative signs are still unstable, especially today's patient. Although the tumor was successfully removed, we still need to monitor after surgery to assess prognosis. I'd rather push through this period and then rest—otherwise, I won't be able to relax during the break."

Doctor Zhao sighed slightly and said, "Well, everyone knows you're the most dedicated surgeon in our hospital. Once you get through this busy period, you can focus on preparing your paper on lung tumors. If it gets published in a prestigious medical journal, you'll definitely be promoted to chief physician. In a few more years, you'll be the head of surgery at our hospital."

Dai Lin replied, "I still want to accumulate more clinical experience, which is essential to complement research. I'm still young and have much to learn."

"Doctor Dai... Today's operation was really risky. If anything had gone wrong, the patient's family might not have been so understanding—they may have thought the patient could have lived longer without the surgery. Aren't you afraid?"